Sunday, November 30, 2014


News Clips For The Day


FERGUSON UNDERTONES – FOUR ARTICLES

Darren Wilson resigns from Ferguson Police Department
CBS/AP November 29, 2014, 6:42 PM

FERGUSON, Mo. - The white police officer who killed Michael Brown has resigned from the Ferguson Police Department, nearly four months after the confrontation that fueled protests in the St. Louis suburb and across the nation.

Darren Wilson has been on administrative leave since the Aug. 9 shooting. His resignation was announced Saturday by one of his attorneys, Neil Bruntrager, who confirmed the move to CBS News. Bruntrager says the resignation is effective immediately.

His resignation comes after several weeks between his attorneys and attorneys for the city of Ferguson, CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reported.

Wilson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he was stepping down out of his "own free will" after the police department told him it had received threats of violence if he remained an employee. "I'm not willing to let someone else get hurt because of me," he told the newspaper.

A grand jury spent more than three months reviewing evidence in the case before declining in November to issue any charges against the 28-year-old Wilson. He told jurors that he feared for his life when Brown hit him and grabbed for his gun.

The U.S. Justice Department is still conducting a civil rights investigation into the shooting and a separate probe of police department practices.

Several protesters in Ferguson shrugged their shoulders or expressed disinterest in the news of Wilson's resignation.

"We were not after Wilson's job," the Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist, said in a statement to the AP. "We were after Michael Brown's justice."

The shooting struck up a national debate about race and police power.

After the shooting, Wilson spent months in hiding and made no public statements. He broke his silence after the grand jury decision, telling ABC News that he could not have done anything differently in the encounter with Brown.

Wilson said he has a clean conscience because "I know I did my job right." Brown's shooting was the first time he fired his gun on the job, he said.

Asked whether the encounter would have unfolded the same way if Brown had been white, Wilson said yes.

In his resignation letter, Wilson wrote that he felt continuing with the Ferguson police department would place residents and other officers at risk.

"It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me," he wrote. "It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal."

Anthony Gray, an attorney representing the Brown family told the Post-Dispatchthat he believes Wilson was acting in his own best interest.

"I think this incident has severely compromised his ability to police in the way he was paid to do by the city," said Gray.

Wilson began his career in nearby Jennings before moving to the Ferguson job a few years ago. He had no previous complaints against him and a good career record, according to Police Chief Thomas Jackson, who called Wilson "an excellent police officer."

A few months before the shooting, Wilson had received a commendation for detaining a suspect in a drug case.

Meanwhile, tensions surrounding the issue remain high. A demonstration outside the courthouse in Clayton, included many mothers who have lost children to gun violence.

"Killing after killing after killing," said Pastor Traci Blackmon. "Some yes at the hands of police and some at the hands ‎of others. It does not matter. We want the blood in our streets to stop"

About 100 protesters at a mall in nearby Brentwood laid down in the aisles of a supermarket, but there were no arrests.

On Monday night, in Ferguson, arsonists turned a dozen businesses like the Little Caesars Pizza into a total loss. Today, some of a dozen former employees gathered outside including Elana, the assistant manager and single mom to daughter Amaya.

For her she said, the hardest part will be trying to provide for her child until she finds a job. "We all need help," she said. "We all need a lot of help right now.

At the Canfield Apartments, where Brown was shot to death, 70 bikers, many of them police and firefighters, rallied in support of Michael Brown but against rioters and looters.

"Tearing up my neighborhood is not going to be accepted," said biker Harland Smith, a retired policeman. "If I have to bring in 100 bikers then that's what I will need to do."



“His resignation was announced Saturday by one of his attorneys, Neil Bruntrager, who confirmed the move to CBS News. Bruntrager says the resignation is effective immediately. His resignation comes after several weeks between his attorneys and attorneys for the city of Ferguson, CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reported.... Brown's shooting was the first time he fired his gun on the job, he said. Asked whether the encounter would have unfolded the same way if Brown had been white, Wilson said yes.... "It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal."... At the Canfield Apartments, where Brown was shot to death, 70 bikers, many of them police and firefighters, rallied in support of Michael Brown but against rioters and looters. "Tearing up my neighborhood is not going to be accepted," said biker Harland Smith, a retired policeman. "If I have to bring in 100 bikers then that's what I will need to do."

I am relieved to see that Wilson did resign rather than continuing to try to be a policeman in that city. If he goes to another city as an officer he may find the same amount of opposition to his presence as at Ferguson, because this incident was too much like others around the nation, North and South. It has touched on a live wire of resentment among blacks and liberal whites, and I think there will be more riots if there aren't changes made.

There is a need for police departments across the country to change their policies. Comparison of the policies of some forces whose violence level is less severe than that of others, would help to determine what changes could be made to improve the violence rate. Yes, the new wearable cameras are a little expensive, but they provide footage that may hopefully show the undisputed actions, tone of voice and what words were spoken. A number of police forces have already started using them, and one article said the officers like them.

One article over the last couple of years suggested that police should return to “walking the beat,” rather than cruising in a car, and again I think going out with a partner would be best rather than alone. The point of that is to establish a personal connection with the neighborhood. Police officers could also go to community meetings with the people to air out complaints or listen to polite suggestions from the public. I note politicians have taken to setting up “town meetings” in the last few years, and it is a very good forum. It allows issues to be discussed and gives the public a chance to see how the officer – or politician – handles himself verbally. Is he calm, respectful and rational?

Another thing that would help is if the law were changed to read that probable cause for arrest and a determination of what crime had been committed, an exhibition of violence, the brandishing of a weapon against the officer, or threatened endangerment of others would have to be present in the case before deadly violence on the part of police were to be allowed. The officer would need to have called into the department for a backup patrol car to help him, if more than one suspect was to be apprehended, and he shouldn't confront the perpetrator before his backup arrives. Then he should try his taser and/or use his fists to tackle the man before the pistol could be drawn. I make an assumption that police officers are thoroughly trained in mixed martial arts or some other effective fighting techniques. If they aren't they should be, for that would lessen their need for the use of deadly force.

Finally, each officer on the force should be trained in non-violent verbal interactions to cool the situation down and achieve a peaceful arrest if at all possible. Quite often police are forced to arrest a person who is mentally deranged. If they aren't violent, they should be handcuffed and taken to the police department, and from there to the nearest 24 hour mental health facility for medication and observation. If the police still need for him to be tried on a criminal charge, that could happen after his mental condition is stabilized. There was a terrible incident some six months or so ago when a highway patrolmen encountered a mentally deranged and homeless woman wandering out into the road and he was filmed on the dashcam mercilessly beating the woman as she lay on her back. I was ashamed of him. It was really shocking to see. The police departments all need to give their officer trainees and applicants a basic mental health test to show whether or not they have violent tendencies in general. A certain percentage of the police officers hired around the nation are bullies at best and sadists at worst. They need mental health care themselves and should not be on the force.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/25/michael-brown-witness_n_6216366.html

Michael Brown Shooting Witness Admitted Racism In Journal Entry
Jason Cherkis 
Posted: 11/25/2014


WASHINGTON -- One of the witnesses to the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown admitted to holding racist views about African-Americans in a journal entry written on the same day of the shooting, according to documents released by St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch's office Monday.

On Aug. 9, the day Brown was shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, the witness wrote in his or her journal: "Well I'm gonna take my random drive to Florissant. Need to understand the Black race better so I stop calling Blacks Niggers and Start calling them People."

On Monday night, McCulloch announced that a grand jury would not indict Wilson in the killing, arguing in a long, defensive opening statement that the shooting could be ruled justified because witnesses claimed that Brown had made movements toward the officer before the fatal shots were fired. The press conference set off another round of protests in Ferguson and across the country.

In a subsequent entry that same day following the shooting, the same witness wrote in his or her journal about seeing the shooting incident: "The cop got out left hand on face Right hand on gun. The Cop Screamed but I could not understand. Everyone was Screaming ... The big kid turned around had his arms out with attitude. The cop just stood there dang if that kid didn't start running right at the cop like a foot ball player Head down. I heard 3 bangs but the big kid wouldn't Stop ... Cop took a couple steps forward then backwards and the gun went off 2 more times. The last one on the top of the kids head. OMG the blood."

Notably, McCulloch said at his press conference Monday night that all of the witnesses who said they saw Brown charge at Wilson were black. That seems undercut by the diary.

"All the ones that I mentioned specifically were all African-Americans, were the ones who came at him in a full charge," he said in response to a question about the race of the witnesses saying that Brown had charged. "So the others who had very consistent stories -- not just with each other, not just their stories or their testimony throughout -- but they were consistent with the others, several others. They're all African-American."

This post has been updated with a quote from McCulloch's press conference.

Follow HuffPost's liveblog below for more Ferguson updates
Today 6:42 PM EST
Powerful Images Of Ferguson Protests That Clogged Streets In London
HuffPost UK's Paul Vale reports that approximately 1,000 Ferguson demonstrators swarmed the streets in London, holding signs echoing those seen in U.S. protesting the grand jury decision to not indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown.




The only way to get rid of negative racial feelings on both sides of the color line, racism in both cases, is to get to know people on a one-to-one basis no matter what their religion or skin color and eat with them, work with them, go to church with them (if there are any integrated churches), socialize with them. Listen to what they say and the way they say it until both come to a place of empathy, understanding and respect. This takes a certain dogged persistence, as our prejudices may make us distrust them.

Sometimes people disagree strongly on social, religious, political issues, but both are honest and ethical people, and can respect each other for their “good intentions.” I think that while we try for “love,” we may only manage to gain some gentleness and toleration for others, but that is better than vicious interactions of some kind. Harboring racial prejudices under a cover of mutual politeness is also harmful, of course. That is where much of the police violence comes from – so called “profiling” – which is color based distrust. As one article in the last few days said, “Skin color is not probable cause.” That really says it all.





http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/25/1347398/-National-Bar-Association-calls-for-Federal-Charges-against-Darren-Wilson?detail=email

National Bar Association calls for Federal Charges against Darren Wilson
Onomastic Daily Kos Member
TUE NOV 25, 2014

In 2010, the last year for data on the number of federal criminal cases and grand jury decisions, U.S. attorneys prosecuted 162,000 federal cases. Grand juries declined to return an indictment in 11 of them. Eleven.

As University of Illinois law professor, Andrew D. Leipold said - "Something has gone horribly wrong."

And it happens again and again with police shootings.

[]...newspaper accounts suggest, grand juries frequently decline to indict law-enforcement officials. A recent Houston Chronicle investigation found that “police have been nearly immune from criminal charges in shootings” in Houston and other large cities in recent years. In Harris County, Texas, for example, grand juries haven’t indicted a Houston police officer since 2004; in Dallas, grand juries reviewed 81 shootings between 2008 and 2012 and returned just one indictment. Separate research by Bowling Green State University criminologist Philip Stinson has found that officers are rarely charged in on-duty killings, although it didn’t look at grand jury indictments specifically....

Last night, the National Bar Association, "the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges," issued a statement calling for Federal Charges to be brought against Officer Wilson.

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Bar Association is questioning how the Grand Jury, considering the evidence before them, could reach the conclusion that Darren Wilson should not be indicted and tried for the shooting death of Michael Brown. National Bar Association President Pamela J. Meanes expresses her sincere disappointment with the outcome of the Grand Jury’s decision but has made it abundantly clear that the National Bar Association stands firm and will be calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue federal charges against officer Darren Wilson. “We will not rest until Michael Brown and his family has justice” states Pamela Meanes, President of the National Bar Association.

Justice does not happen without struggle and this struggle is far from over. No Justice. No peace. Bring your music. Bring your sorrow.



National Bar Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The National Bar Association (NBA) is the oldest and largest national association of African-American attorneys and judges in the United States.

History[edit]

NBA was established in 1925 as the "Negro Bar Association" after Gertrude Rush, George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, James B. Morris, and Charles P. Howard, Sr. were denied membership in the American Bar Association.

Its first president was George H. Woodson of Des Moines, Iowa. Arnette Hubbard was its first female president. [5] In 1940, the NBA attempted to establish "free legal clinics in all cities with a colored population of 5,000 or more."[1] In 2010, the NBA partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau to work toward a complete and accurate count of the nation's population through various outreach activities.[6]




“As University of Illinois law professor, Andrew D. Leipold said - "Something has gone horribly wrong." And it happens again and again with police shootings.” A grand jury is selected to hear a case involving a white policeman shooting a black citizen and the grand jury refuses to indict. “... newspaper accounts suggest, grand juries frequently decline to indict law-enforcement officials. A recent Houston Chronicle investigation found that “police have been nearly immune from criminal charges in shootings” in Houston and other large cities in recent years.”

If the DOJ does get more deeply into it and charges Wilson, who will try the case? Another local grand jury? In another DOJ case, that one is on religious discrimination, the DOJ brought a lawsuit instead. At any rate I hope they bring national attention to this situation and also look at other cities around the country for the same racially biased policing. I would like to see a federal reform law enacted which deals with this subject, and also with simple but important issues such as officer training and discipline and community relationships. There are too few real rules on police officers as they patrol on dark neighborhood streets. Unfortunately, they are their own boss.






A reporter's perspective on the reaction in Ferguson
By JONATHAN BLAKELY CBS NEWS November 29, 2014, 9:09 PM

I got here the Thursday after Michael Brown was killed. When I first got here I was surprised at how intense things were on the ground. And I remember overhearing someone in the crowd say they were surprised something that they would see in the Middle East was happening in the middle of America.

You could see that the shooting basically ripped open a scab that had been there for a while in this community.

There was one moment when we came back in October after a lot of the cameras had gone. We met a kid named Frankie Edwards who was out here trying to make a difference.

"Let me know if you need a job, let me know ASAP so I can go on get to workin' on that for ya," said Frankie to another young man.

From a law enforcement perspective, there's one lieutenant with a St. Louis County Police Department, Jerry Lore, [sic] who you know night after night seems to make a connection with protesters that not a lot of cops have been able to make.

Over the past few weeks we've heard from government officials and law enforcement that once this grand jury decision was announced that they would protect small businesses and look out for residents.

"Together, we are all focused on making sure the necessary resources are at hand to protect lives, protect property, and protect free speech," Nixon said before the grand jury decision was announced.

This past Monday and Tuesday, we were out here on West Florissant. I witnessed at least 40 minutes straight of looting in the exact same spot that it happened in August.

I think from the moment this story broke, I could relate to a lot of the anger that these residents were feeling. As an African American, I've had that talk about what to do when you encounter police. I completely understand and emphasize [sic] with some of those initial emotions.

I wish I could say that things have gotten better, but it doesn't feel that way. It still feels like there is a long way to go.

One thing that is refreshing though, is just the generosity that all of these residents still have. This past Thursday I was invited to Thanksgiving by a group of protesters.

They didn't have to invite me, I've been sticking a camera in their face for the past few months. They didn't have to be kind and invite me to Thanksgiving, but they did. And so when you see things like that, you know that there are people who can facilitate that positive change if they just stayed focused and find something else to turn focus to.




“You could see that the shooting basically ripped open a scab that had been there for a while in this community.... I think from the moment this story broke, I could relate to a lot of the anger that these residents were feeling. As an African American, I've had that talk about what to do when you encounter police. I completely understand and emphasize [sic] with some of those initial emotions. I wish I could say that things have gotten better, but it doesn't feel that way. It still feels like there is a long way to go. One thing that is refreshing though, is just the generosity that all of these residents still have. This past Thursday I was invited to Thanksgiving by a group of protesters.... And so when you see things like that, you know that there are people who can facilitate that positive change if they just stayed focused and find something else to turn focus to.”

I think poor people as a community need to get together regularly and talk about what needs to be done with community relations – the city council, Mayor, police force, and also the chronic problems in the neighborhood that produce a blight on the area. Housing that is falling apart or vermin infested. Lack of education, lack of jobs, black on black street and family violence, relations with any white, Hispanic or other groups who may be living there, alcohol and drug abuse, etc., etc.

Meanwhile don't neglect to get every citizen who is old enough and otherwise eligible to vote their very much needed picture ID cards. Okay. We don't like those voter ID laws, but as long as they are on the books they will govern how the election is conducted, so you need an ID card. It takes a groundswell movement for minorities to outvote the majority. That can't happen if people aren't prepared to vote and determined to get out of their houses and do it. The Republican party specializes in demoralizing maneuvers to stop minorities from voting. Don't let them get away with that.

Some states give easy access to free cards. Go to the Internet for instructions. Even if they don't have their SS card, birth certificate, or regained permission to vote after returning from prison, it is usually possible to solve that problem with a letter to the proper office in some state or local government building. Do that well before election time, so there is no last minute difficulty. Republicans and other “conservatives” could be voted out by a strong push from the poor and ethnic populations in many places. Every liberal elected to every office is a step in the right direction. Persist in working away at the Republican hold on Southern and other conservative localities.





OBAMA UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL – TWO ARTICLES


Obama visits D.C. bookstore on "Small Business Saturday"
By JAKE MILLER CBS NEWS November 29, 2014, 2:29 PM

President Obama jumped into the holiday shopping frenzy on Saturday, visiting Politics and Prose, a bookstore in Northwest Washington, D.C. that he and his family have frequented since arriving in the nation's capital.

Mr. Obama was accompanied by daughers Malia and Sasha. It was the fourth year in a row the president has visited a local bookstore on "Small Business Saturday," a day promoted in recent years as an alternative to the large retailer mania of "Black Friday."

"You from out of town?" one of the clerks at the bookstore asked the president as he began checking out.

"I am," the president replied. "Do I get a discount for that?"

"Upcharge sometimes," the clerk replied. Another added, "I think you get the neighbor discount."

"The neighbor discount," Mr. Obama mused. "I'll take that."

As he surveyed some books behind the counter, one title caught the president's eye: "The Stranger," an account of Mr. Obama's presidency written by NBC News' Chuck Todd.

"Oh, Chuck Todd!" the president exclaimed. "Let's see what Chuck has to say here."

"How is he writing a book already?" asked Malia Obama. "Sad."

"He's just sad," the president joked.

The staff began depositing the pile of books Mr. Obama purchased into a bag, and one employee remarked, "You must have a lot of time on your hands."

"Well ... some of these are Christmas presents," the president explained.

One onlooker tried to get the president to wade into politics, telling Mr. Obama, "I hope you can close Guantanamo," referring to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that the president has been working to shutter since 2009.

"We're working it," the president assured the man.

When he finished checking out, the president handed his card to an employee and said, "I hope it works!"

As the press pool was ushered outside, the president offered a brief farewell. "Alright guys," he said. "Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas."

The White House later provided a list of books purchased by the president.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth-lauten-facebook-rant-targeting-obama-girls-shows-partisanship-doesnt-take-a-holiday/

Facebook rant targeting Obama girls shows partisanship doesn't take a holiday
By JIM AXELROD CBS NEWS November 29, 2014, 7:32 PM

The ever-widening partisan divide in Washington didn't take a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. In fact, just the opposite - Thanksgiving actually sparked the latest round of sniping and this time, it got very personal.

The episode of social media snarkiness began with the president conducting the Thanksgiving ritual of pardoning a turkey.

But it wasn't the president that drew the attention of a woman named Elizabeth Lauten. It was his daughters, Sasha and Malia, who were also in the room and, well, maybe not as transfixed by the pardon ceremony as they might have been a few years ago.

Lauten posted her thoughts on her Facebook page:

"Dear Sasha and Malia, I get your both in those awful teen years but you're a part of the First Family. Try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play. Then again, your mother and father don't respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, so I'm guessing you're coming up a little short in the 'good role model' department."

Lauten wasn't done:

"Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot in a bar."

The comments might have been lost forever to the blogosphere, were it not for the fact that Lauten is the communications director for Rep. Steven Fincher, R-Tenn., and used to manage new media for the Republican National Committee.

A storm of pushback followed, accusing Lauten of being "mean," "thoughtless," "ignorant," and a host of other things we can't repeat here, while also calling for her job.

On Friday, Lauten posted an apology: "After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents, and re-reading my words online, I can see more clearly just how hurtful my words were. Please know, those judgmental feelings truly have no place in my heart."

Since the apology was posted on Lauten's Facebook page, it has been either deleted or made private.




This woman's rant reminds me of some Republicans who spoke with equal disrespect and rudeness about President Clinton's daughter. Presidential daughters ought to be protected from that kind of cruelty, especially since they have been nothing other than polite and well dressed any time I've seen them. Lauten also stated that their parents were not “respectful” of our country. I have no idea what that means. They don't go around dressed in a suit and tie all the time, it's true. I noticed he was in civies at the book store. He deserves to relax a little some times.

Lauten has apologized “after hours of prayer, talking to my parents and re-reading my words online” and posted the apology on her Facebook page. Unfortunately she has made the page unavailable now so we can't read her heartfelt words of shame. What she should have done is post it in the Washington Post or New York Times.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/11/18/365015169/india-quarantines-ebola-survivor-because-of-infectious-semen

India Quarantines Ebola Survivor Because Of Infectious Semen – NPR
By Michaeleen Doucleff
November 18, 2014

Photograph – India has record no Ebola cases, but the country is on high alert and has quarantined hundreds of travelers from West Africa. This hospital in New Delhi has set up an Intensive Care Unit for potential Ebola patients.

The headlines circulating on the Web Tuesday may have given you pause: "India's First Ebola Patient Has Been Quarantined,"Time Magazine wrote on its website. "Man tests positive for Ebola, kept under isolation," Press Trust of India declared.

But those headlines don't tell the full story.

An Indian man, who had previously recovered from Ebola, flew from Liberia to Delhi on Nov. 10, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said Tuesday in a statement.

At the Delhi airport, the 26-year-old immediately told officials his medical history: He was successfully treated for Ebola in Liberia and released from a health facility back in late September. When he boarded the plane, he had no symptoms.

The man's blood tested negative for Ebola, three times at the airport. But the virus was still lingering in one bodily fluid — his semen, health officials said.

That's not a surprise. Doctors have known for decades that the Ebola virus persists in semen for months after a person recovers from the disease.

"That's because antibodies produced in the bloodstream don't reach the testicles," said Marie-Christine Ferir, an emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, based in Brussels.

"Since Ebola can be transmitted through sexual contact," she said, "male survivors are sent home with condoms and instructed to use them for the next three months if they engage in intercourse."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends that men abstain from sex for three months after recovery from Ebola.

But India is being more cautious. They are quarantining the man at the Delhi airport until his semen is free of the virus, the Ministry of Health said in the statement.

"This would rule out even the remote possibility of spread of this disease by the sexual route," the statement said. "The situation is under control and there is no need for any alarm."

Virologist Alan Schmaljohn, of the University of Maryland, said he doesn't know of a case in which a man passed Ebola to his partner through sex. But it has happened with a virus related to Ebola.

Back in 1967, a German man transmitted Marburg virus to his wife four months after he was discharged from the hospital and declared cured.

"Sexual transmission of Ebola is a significant risk," Schmaljohn said.



“That's not a surprise. Doctors have known for decades that the Ebola virus persists in semen for months after a person recovers from the disease. "That's because antibodies produced in the bloodstream don't reach the testicles," said Marie-Christine Ferir, an emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, based in Brussels.... But India is being more cautious. They are quarantining the man at the Delhi airport until his semen is free of the virus, the Ministry of Health said in the statement. "This would rule out even the remote possibility of spread of this disease by the sexual route," the statement said. "The situation is under control and there is no need for any alarm.".... Virologist Alan Schmaljohn, of the University of Maryland, said he doesn't know of a case in which a man passed Ebola to his partner through sex. But it has happened with a virus related to Ebola. Back in 1967, a German man transmitted Marburg virus to his wife four months after he was discharged from the hospital and declared cured. "Sexual transmission of Ebola is a significant risk," Schmaljohn said.”

I'm surprised there has been no mention of this before, or during this year's outbreak anyway. I'm glad to see that doctors do regularly caution men about the problem and give them condoms for all sexual activity. I hope the men will have enough good sense not to have unprotected sex with anyone. The rapid spread of this epidemic has made me feel that maybe there were some things about Ebola that the CDC hadn't announced. Sometimes government bodies keep certain things secret so as to avoid “a panic.” That infuriates me. It's not the way our democracy works. Open air and sunlight are the way to go.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/11/28/367092004/how-dogs-understand-what-we-say

How Dogs Understand What We Say – NPR
Michaeleen Doucleff
November 28, 2014

Photograph – Do you want to go to the park? Mango Doucleff, of San Francisco, responds to her favorite command by perking up her ears and tilting her head.

Scientists — and anyone who lives with a canine — know that dogs pay close attention to the emotion in our voices. They listen for whether our tone is friendly or mean, how the pitch goes up or down and even the rhythms in our speech.

But what about the meaning of the words we say?

Sure, a few studies have reported on super smart dogs that know hundreds of words. And Chaser, a border collie in South Carolina, even learned 1,022 nouns and commands to go with them.

But otherwise, there's little evidence that dogs differentiate between speech with meaningful words from sounds that contain only inflections, says neurobiologist Attila Andics, at the MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group in Budapest.

"We know quite a bit about how much dogs get about how we say things, Andics says, "but we know quite little about how much dogs get about what we say to them."

That's about to change.

Psychologists reported Wednesday in the journal Current Biology that dogs do pay attention to the meaning of words. And they process that information in a different part of the brain than where they process emotional cues in speech.

To figure all that out, graduate student Victoria Ratcliffe at the University of Sussex in England set up a clever experiment.

She brought 250 dogs into the lab. And then for each one, Ratcliffe put a speaker on either side of the dog's head.

Then she played the command "to come" out of both speakers, at the same time. At first, the command sounded normal. It had both meaningful words and emotional cues in it.

Then Ratcliffe started to manipulate the speech in the command. In some instances, she removed all the inflections in the speaker's voice. In other instances, she kept the inflections in the speaker's voice but removed the words (or replaced the words with gibberish).

For each command, Ratcliffe recorded which way the dogs turned their heads — toward the left speaker or toward the right speaker. Even though both speakers were playing the same sounds, a clear pattern emerged.

When the dogs heard commands that still had meaningful words in them, about 80 percent of the animals turned to the right. When they heard commands, with just emotional cues in them, most dogs turned to the left.

That result sounds simple. But Andics, who wasn't involved in the study, says the findings show something surprising: "That dogs are able to differentiate between meaningful and meaningless sound sequences."

The study also suggests that a dog's brain breaks up speech into two parts: the emotional cues and the meaning of the words. Then it processes these two components on opposite sides of the brain: emotional cues on the right, meaning of words on the left. (Yes, it's opposite to the way the dogs turned.)

That's a bit similar to how we humans process speech. We also break up speech into several parts, such as the meaning of the words, clues about the speaker and emotional cues.

"But with humans, it's trickier," Andics says. "We believe the human brain processes various aspects of human speech in different stages and in many different parts of the brain."

Still though, Andics says the new study offers one way that people may be able to communicate better with their best friends: Pick the ear you use carefully.

"Tell all the emotional things to the dog in his left ear," Andics says. "For commands that you want a dog to get clearly and precisely, tell them in right ear."




"We know quite a bit about how much dogs get about how we say things, Andics says, "but we know quite little about how much dogs get about what we say to them." That's about to change. Psychologists reported Wednesday in the journal Current Biology that dogs do pay attention to the meaning of words. And they process that information in a different part of the brain than where they process emotional cues in speech.... When the dogs heard commands that still had meaningful words in them, about 80 percent of the animals turned to the right. When they heard commands, with just emotional cues in them, most dogs turned to the left. That result sounds simple. But Andics, who wasn't involved in the study, says the findings show something surprising: "That dogs are able to differentiate between meaningful and meaningless sound sequences." … Still though, Andics says the new study offers one way that people may be able to communicate better with their best friends: Pick the ear you use carefully. "Tell all the emotional things to the dog in his left ear," Andics says. "For commands that you want a dog to get clearly and precisely, tell them in right ear."

I have noticed that dogs do tend to turn their heads to one side or the other when I speak to them. That's what gives them that winsome, soulful expression that we all love. As for the dog turning its head to the opposite side from the brain locality of their auditory centers, that isn't surprising, since in humans, those of us who are “right brained” tend to be left handed, and vice versa. I'm just glad to see doggy intelligence and capabilities examined scientifically. People for so long have had a very poor opinion of their brain functioning, and not too many years ago the Nazis performed horrible experiments on them.

Some people have claimed that animals “don't feel pain like we do.” It has always been clear to me that cruelty to an animal is just as evil as cruelty to a human. One of my complaints about the Christian religion is that they used to believe the statement (wherever it is in the Old Testament) that we humans have been given “dominion over” the animals. While it is true that we are capable of exercising great cruelty over them, I don't believe if there is a judgment day that those who have had a practice of viciousness to either animal or human will be forgiven. At least I hope not.







http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/middle-east-unrest/jerusalems-arab-jewish-school-hand-hand-torched-apparent-arson-attack-n258361

Jerusalem's Arab-Jewish School, Hand in Hand, Torched in Apparent Arson Attack – NBC
Reuters
First published November 30th 2014, 6:57 am

JERUSALEM — Suspected Jewish extremists set fire to a classroom in an Arab-Jewish school in Jerusalem, police said on Sunday, targeting a symbol of co-existence in a city on edge over a recent surge in violence. The premises were empty late on Saturday when assailants torched a classroom used by first-graders at the Hand in Hand school, where Palestinian and Israeli children study together in Hebrew and Arabic. "Death to Arabs" had been scrawled on a schoolyard wall.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the slogan pointed to "nationalist motives," a reference to suspected far-right Jewish attackers. More than 600 pupils attend Hand in Hand. From pre-school to high school, its student population is divided equally between Jews and Arabs. There are four other such schools in the Hand to Hand network in Israel.

The smell of smoke still lingered in the air when children came to school on Sunday, the first day of the working week in Israel. A police forensic team worked in the burnt classroom where charred books were scattered on the floor. Tearful mothers dropped off their children and about 150 people held a protest outside against the violence. "We're supporting each other, this just makes us stronger," said Mimi Fkia, an Arab kindergarten teacher, as Vida, her Israeli counterpart, embraced her.

IN-DEPTH
Netanyahu Cabinet Moves to Define Israel as Jewish
Israeli Cop Charged Over Palestinian Youth's Death
Analysis: Can Bloodshed Be Stopped After Synagogue Attack?





“Hand in Hand school, where Palestinian and Israeli children study together in Hebrew and Arabic. "Death to Arabs" had been scrawled on a schoolyard wall.... Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the slogan pointed to "nationalist motives," a reference to suspected far-right Jewish attackers. More than 600 pupils attend Hand in Hand. From pre-school to high school, its student population is divided equally between Jews and Arabs. There are four other such schools in the Hand to Hand network in Israel.... Tearful mothers dropped off their children and about 150 people held a protest outside against the violence. "We're supporting each other, this just makes us stronger," said Mimi Fkia, an Arab kindergarten teacher, as Vida, her Israeli counterpart, embraced her.”

This Hand In Hand network shows me that there is a strain of peacefulness and cooperation within Israeli society. Netanyahu and the far right are indeed, as I have come to think, “bad boys” who are elected and supported by the very nationalistic elements. It is time they were voted out. Both Israel and Palestine need to come together across the boundaries of hatred and make peace. Such extreme nationalism is not justifiable to me by the results – by their actions. It's just one evil deed against the other and there is no goal or progress that I can detect. I wish we would be less loyal to Netanyahu. It makes us a part of his deeds.





Florida Student Arrested For Running High School Prostitution Ring: Cops – NBC
Erik Ortiz
First published November 25th 2014

A Florida high school student is accused of running a prostitution ring that involved selling underage girls for money and alcohol, authorities said. Alexa Nicole De Armas, a 17-year-old at Sarasota High School, was arrested Friday and faces a felony charge of human trafficking of a person younger than 18, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune first reported. A 21-year-old man — identified as John Michael Mosher — was also arrested Friday for allegedly paying $40 and a bottle of liquor in exchange for sex with a 15-year-old, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. A third person is expected to be charged Tuesday.

Investigators learned about the ring when four students at nearby Venice High School told administrators in October about it, according to the Herald-Tribune. De Armas allegedly set up Mosher to have sex with the juvenile at a community pool, police said in a report. "[The underage girl] stated she told Mosher she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him to which he disregarded and forcefully held her against the wall of the pool shed building, restricting her movement and ability to flee," the report said. Authorities say De Armas and an accomplice had set up at least two other prostitution encounters using Facebook. The ring included other Sarasota County schools as well, police said.




This De Armas kid is really advanced in the world of criminality. He is only 17 years old. Unfortunately, he is also Hispanic, which will add wood to the fire of anti-immigrant feeling. I think most Hispanic kids may fight some, join gangs, steal a little and maybe sell dope, but not many of them work in a prostitution ring involving teenaged girls. How did our school systems get so undisciplined and literally “lawless?” No wonder kids can't learn well in modern schools. They're overcrowded and full of serious dangers for the milder and more cooperative kids.

Authorities say De Armas and an accomplice had set up at least two other prostitution deals using Facebook in more than one Sarasota County school. I think both De Armas and his unnamed accomplice will probably both be tried as adults, and so they should be. I hope the young woman who was, after all, actually raped gets a more gentle treatment, though technically she will probably be charged with prostitution. I hope they all come to some realization of the wrongness of their actions and will mend their ways.





http://news.yahoo.com/teenage-boy-missing-four-years-found-alive-hidden-190612301.html

Teen missing four years found alive, hidden behind wall near Atlanta
Reuters
By Richard McKay
11/29/14

JONESBORO, Ga. (Reuters) - A 13-year-old boy who had been reported missing four years ago was discovered alive, hidden behind a fake wall of a home near Atlanta, Georgia, and reunited with his mother early on Saturday, police said.

Five people living in the home in Jonesboro, 17 miles (28 km) south of Atlanta, were taken into custody, among them the boy's father, Gregory Jean, 37, and an adult female, said Sergeant Kevin Hughes of the Clayton County police.

Jean and Samantha Joy Davis face charges of false imprisonment, cruelty to children and obstructing an officer, he said, adding that three juveniles also in the home were facing obstruction charges.

The boy's mother apparently had reported him missing to child welfare but not police, and no missing person's report was filed in Clayton County, Hughes said.

The teen was apparently able to get to a phone recently and contacted his mother with his whereabouts, authorities said.

Clayton County police went to the home on Friday to look for the 13-year-old but Jean and Davis said they had no information about the boy, Hughes said.

Several hours later, police came back and again searched the residence. While the police were in the home, the boy called his mother, who relayed to officers where her son was hidden in the house, Hughes said.

"They discovered him hidden behind a false wall in the interior portion of the home," he said.

The boy appeared to be in good physical health and was reunited with his mother, who had come to Georgia from out of state, Hughes said.

Neighbors in their quiet, well-kept Jonesboro neighborhood said the family moved in about six months ago and kept to themselves.

The 13-year-old boy always seemed to be home and did not appear to be enrolled in school, they said.

"We just thought that they liked to keep to themselves," said neighbor Julie Pizarro, 37, adding that the boy was often seen tending the yard.

"You can see the yard is immaculate," she said. "The boy kept it that way."

The teen went missing in 2010 while visiting his father in Florida, WSBTV reported.

Jean was being held in Clayton County jail and no bail has been set, online records show.

Authorities said Jean and Davis could face more criminal charges as the investigation unfolds.

It was unclear if they had obtained attorneys.

(Writing by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Frank McGurty, Frances Kerry, Gunna Dickson and Lisa Shumaker)




“Jean and Samantha Joy Davis face charges of false imprisonment, cruelty to children and obstructing an officer, he said, adding that three juveniles also in the home were facing obstruction charges.... The boy's mother apparently had reported him missing to child welfare but not police, and no missing person's report was filed in Clayton County, Hughes said.... Several hours later, police came back and again searched the residence. While the police were in the home, the boy called his mother, who relayed to officers where her son was hidden in the house, Hughes said. "They discovered him hidden behind a false wall in the interior portion of the home," he said. The boy appeared to be in good physical health and was reunited with his mother, who had come to Georgia from out of state, Hughes said.... "We just thought that they liked to keep to themselves," said neighbor Julie Pizarro, 37, adding that the boy was often seen tending the yard. "You can see the yard is immaculate," she said. "The boy kept it that way."

This is clearly going to be one of those deep, dark, sad stories, and there will almost certainly be a followup with more information. Custody battles are sometimes extreme, but this one is bizarre. The father and five others have been arrested, according to CBS six o'clock news on TV. Maybe the boy will tell more details about his long imprisonment behind the false wall. He was alert enough and clever enough to get his hands on a cell phone and call his mother. Maybe he will survive this with therapy, and without too much psychological damage. He's clearly a plucky young person. He will have to catch up on his schoolwork and integrate himself into a middle school, or better still, perhaps he could be home schooled. He will probably need a tutor at least to catch up on his schoolwork.





http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-u-ceos-threaten-pull-tacit-obamacare-support-120556143--sector.html

Exclusive: U.S. CEOs threaten to pull tacit Obamacare support over 'wellness' spat
 Reuters
By Sharon Begley
November 29, 2014

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Leading U.S. CEOs, angered by the Obama administration's challenge to certain "workplace wellness" programs, are threatening to side with anti-Obamacare forces unless the government backs off, according to people familiar with the matter.

Major U.S. corporations have broadly supported President Barack Obama's healthcare reform despite concerns over several of its elements, largely because it included provisions encouraging the wellness programs.

The programs aim to control healthcare costs by reducing smoking, obesity, hypertension and other risk factors that can lead to expensive illnesses. A bipartisan provision in the 2010 healthcare reform law allows employers to reward workers who participate and penalize those who don't.

But recent lawsuits filed by the administration's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), challenging the programs at Honeywell International and two smaller companies, have thrown the future of that part of Obamacare into doubt.

The lawsuits infuriated some large employers so much that they are considering aligning themselves with Obama's opponents, according to people familiar with the executives' thinking.

"The fact that the EEOC sued is shocking to our members," said Maria Ghazal, vice-president and counsel at the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives of more than 200 large U.S. corporations. "They don't understand why a plan in compliance with the ACA (Affordable Care Act) is the target of a lawsuit," she said. "This is a major issue to our members."

"There have been conversations at the most senior levels of the administration about this," she added.

Business Roundtable members are due to meet Obama in a closed-door session on Tuesday, where they may air their concerns.

It is not clear how many members of the group, whose companies sponsor health insurance for 40 million people, are considering any action. It is also not clear if the White House can stop the EEOC from challenging wellness programs.

A threat of a  corporate backlash comes at a time when Obama faces criticism even from his Democrats' ranks that he had devoted too much political capital to healthcare reform.

Such action could take the form of radical changes in health benefits that employers offer. It could also mean supporting a potentially game-changing challenge to Obamacare at the Supreme Court next year and expected Republican efforts to eviscerate the law when they take control of Congress in 2015.

CARROTS AND STICKS

Obamacare allows financial incentives for workers taking part in workplace wellness programs of up to 50 percent of their monthly premiums, deductibles, and other costs. That translates into hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in extra annual costs for those who do not participate.

Typically, participation means filling out detailed health questionnaires, undergoing medical screenings, and in some cases attending weight-loss or smoking-cessation programs.

One of the arguments presented in the lawsuit against three employers is that requiring medical testing violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

That 1990 law, according to employment-law attorney Joseph Lazzarotti of Jackson Lewis P.C. in Morristown, N.J., largely prohibits requiring medical tests as part of employment.

"You can't make medical inquiries unless it's consistent with job-necessity, or part of a voluntary wellness program," he said.

The lawsuits are based on the view that it is no longer voluntary if employees face up to $4,000 in penalties for non-participation, loss of insurance or even their jobs.

Employers, however, see the lawsuits as reneging on the administration's commitment to an important part of the healthcare reform.

On Nov. 14, Roundtable president John Engler sent a letter to the Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services cabinet secretaries who oversee Obamacare asking them to "thwart all future inappropriate actions against employers who are complying with" the law's wellness rules, and warning of "a chilling effect across the country."

Asked for a response to the letter, an administration official told Reuters that it supported workplace health promotion and prevention "while ensuring that individuals are protected from unfair underwriting practices that could otherwise reduce benefits based on health status."

UNDERMINING OBAMACARE

In practical terms, large corporations have several ways to undermine Obamacare if they decide to.

One is to support legal challenges to the subsidies given to low-income individuals who buy health insurance on the federal exchange established under the law. Neither the Business Roundtable nor any of its CEO members have done this so far. The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case in 2015.

Another option is to make top executives available for hearings on repealing or diluting Obamacare. "We never did this before," said the person familiar with the executives' thinking. "But they could turn up the noise. I don't think the White House would want the CEOs turning on them and supporting these efforts on the Hill."

The nuclear option would be to radically change employer-sponsored health insurance. Large corporations are highly unlikely to eliminate it, but they might give workers a fixed amount of money to buy coverage on a private insurance exchange. That would allow employers, almost all of which pay workers' medical claims out of their earnings, to cap their healthcare spending.

(Reporting by Sharon Begley; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Tomasz Janowski)




"This is a major issue to our members."... It is also not clear if the White House can stop the EEOC from challenging wellness programs.... Typically, participation means filling out detailed health questionnaires, undergoing medical screenings, and in some cases attending weight-loss or smoking-cessation programs. One of the arguments presented in the lawsuit against three employers is that requiring medical testing violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. That 1990 law, according to employment-law attorney Joseph Lazzarotti of Jackson Lewis P.C. in Morristown, N.J., largely prohibits requiring medical tests as part of employment.... The lawsuits are based on the view that it is no longer voluntary if employees face up to $4,000 in penalties for non-participation, loss of insurance or even their jobs. Employers, however, see the lawsuits as reneging on the administration's commitment to an important part of the healthcare reform.... Asked for a response to the letter, an administration official told Reuters that it supported workplace health promotion and prevention "while ensuring that individuals are protected from unfair underwriting practices that could otherwise reduce benefits based on health status."

It's been a number of years since I worked at a company that provided health insurance, but we were subject to a “wellness plan.” As a smoker I had to pay more for my insurance, but it wasn't $4,000 more. When I moved to Jacksonville I moved in with a woman who is asthmatic and I used the step down nicotine patches to quit. It was surprisingly easy with the patches, and had seemed impossible when I didn't have them. If I had some condition like diabetes or AIDS I might not want a medical test required for my employment. Drinkers or drug users, too, may face discrimination in the workplace.

I'd like to see examples of what Honeywell and the several other companies who are being sued have been requiring of their employees. If it is a bona fide violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the EEOC might win their lawsuit. Of course the companies can revert to an anti-Obamacare position on this any time they please, so winning the lawsuit might not be an advantage. I hope Obama will pull the EEOC back from the line on this one. Most “wellness plans” are fair in my viewpoint. Smoking does add to the number of times anyone has to see a doctor, and to the difficulty of managing or curing their physical problems.




JUST FOR FUN


VIDEO: Dog Jumps Into Live Weather Report
By Michael Rodio
November 30, 2014

King, a one-year-old American Bulldog, couldn't wait to be featured on TV as the "Pet of the Week" at NBC 6 in South Florida.

So the enterprising dog decided to make his on-screen debut a few minutes early — during the station's weather report.

NBC's Ryan Phillips gamely played along as the eager King bounded on top of the desk.

King is up for adoption. "He would do best in a home that can provide him with a good amount of room and lots of playtime," the station suggested.

Saturday, November 29, 2014


News Clips For The Day


GOP vs Dems

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-demands-pound-flesh-tax-deal

GOP demands a pound of flesh in tax deal –
By Steve Benen
11/26/14

House Republicans haven’t had much success this Congress passing actual legislation into law, but they’ve nevertheless invested quite a bit of time focusing on one of their favorite pastimes: cutting taxes without paying for it.
 
The Democratic-run Senate has largely ignored the bills from the lower chamber, but in recent weeks, House Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) have been negotiating a deal on tax breaks set to expire at the end of 2014, and yesterday, a deal took shape. Before we get to the substantive details, it’s important to note how GOP lawmakers approached the talks:

Left off were the two tax breaks valued most by liberal Democrats: a permanently expanded earned-income credit and a child tax credit for the working poor. Friday night, Republican negotiators announced they would exclude those measures as payback for the president’s executive order on immigration, saying a surge of newly legalized workers would claim the credit, tax aides from both parties said.

We really have reached a farcical level of policymaking. Republicans aren’t just obsessed with tax cuts, they’re deliberately scrapping breaks that go to working families. Why? Largely because GOP officials aren’t done with their tantrum over immigration policy – right-wing hissy fits rarely produce sound public policy – and Republicans feel as if they’re entitled to a pound of flesh because the Big Bad President hurt their feelings.
 
The result is a tax deal that treats the working poor as collateral damage in a political war. Sorry, struggling families, Americans elected a far-right Congress, and your loss is their “payback.”
 
And as important as this is, it’s not even the most offensive part of the agreement on taxes that came together yesterday.
 
At issue is a package of 55 tax breaks worth $440 billion over the next decade, nearly all of which benefit corporations, which are already enjoying record profits. Danny Vinik described the agreement as an example of “everything that’s wrong with Washington.”
Imagine somebody asked you to imagine the worst possible deal on taxes. It’d probably have the following qualities:
 
It would be bad for the environment.
 
It would be bad for the deficit.
 
It would give short shrift to the working poor.
 
And it would be a bonanza for corporations.
 
Unfortunately, you don’t have to conjure up such a package. Congressional Republicans already have.

This may sound like an exaggeration. It’s not. Indeed, perhaps the single most striking aspect of this is that Republicans intend to pay for the tax breaks entirely through deficit financing. After all the talk from GOP lawmakers about killing our grandchildren with mountains of debt, all the rhetoric about how “broke” the United States is, all the claims that we can’t invest in job creation or even jobless benefits unless every penny is offset, we’ve received another reminder that Republican talk about fiscal policy is a rather pathetic and insincere joke.
 
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities published a fairly detailed, albeit understated, analysis of the tax deal, calling it “a significant step backward on several key issues facing the nation: long-term budget deficits, high levels of poverty (especially among children), and widening inequality.”
 
And what about the provision in the deal that’s bad for the environment? At Republicans’ request, the package does not extend the wind-power tax credit – GOP lawmakers said it wasn’t fair to the oil and gas industry, so it had to go.
 
Given all of this, President Obama has vowed to veto the agreement. I talked to a handful of Democratic aides on Capitol Hill overnight, and each said the package would enjoy very little Dem support in its current form.
 
The obvious question, aside from why Republicans are so incredibly reckless and irresponsible when it comes to tax breaks for corporations that don’t need them, is why Harry Reid’s office would agree to such a far-right agreement. The Nevada Democrat and his team have been involved in plenty of bipartisan compromises, and they know their way around a negotiating table, so why accept such a ridiculous deal?
 
Reid’s office hasn’t said much publicly – and with an Obama veto now inevitable, it may be a moot point – but apparently House Republicans were quite inflexible during the talks and this was the best result Democratic aides thought they could get before the GOP takeover of Congress is complete.
 
What’s more, some of the existing 55 tax breaks, sometimes called “tax extenders,” actually have merit and progressive support. For Republican negotiators, the message was, in effect, “The only way to keep these breaks is to give us more of what we want.”




“Before we get to the substantive details, it’s important to note how GOP lawmakers approached the talks: Left off were the two tax breaks valued most by liberal Democrats: a permanently expanded earned-income credit and a child tax credit for the working poor. Friday night, Republican negotiators announced they would exclude those measures as payback for the president’s executive order on immigration.... The result is a tax deal that treats the working poor as collateral damage in a political war. Sorry, struggling families, Americans elected a far-right Congress, and your loss is their “payback.” And as important as this is, it’s not even the most offensive part of the agreement on taxes that came together yesterday. At issue is a package of 55 tax breaks worth $440 billion over the next decade, nearly all of which benefit corporations, which are already enjoying record profits.... Republicans intend to pay for the tax breaks entirely through deficit financing.... calling it “a significant step backward on several key issues facing the nation: long-term budget deficits, high levels of poverty (especially among children), and widening inequality.” And what about the provision in the deal that’s bad for the environment? At Republicans’ request, the package does not extend the wind-power tax credit – GOP lawmakers said it wasn’t fair to the oil and gas industry, so it had to go.... What’s more, some of the existing 55 tax breaks, sometimes called “tax extenders,” actually have merit and progressive support. For Republican negotiators, the message was, in effect, “The only way to keep these breaks is to give us more of what we want.”

“Given all of this, President Obama has vowed to veto the agreement.” Thank goodness Obama is a true, if middle of the road, Democrat, and very much on his toes about what the Republicans are up to. He's the little Dutch boy with his finger in the hole keeping back the ocean, now that the Republicans have taken over control of the Senate. Not only are they shafting the poor – which is getting to be a large number of people since the Great Recession began – but they are doing it out of sheer spite. They are profoundly unethical and greedy, but what's new??





http://www.politicususa.com/2014/11/28/bernie-sanders-congressional-liberals-team-obama-kill-corporate-tax-cuts.html

Bernie Sanders And Congressional Liberals Team Up With Obama To Kill Corporate Tax Cuts
By: Jason Easley
Friday, November, 28th, 2014

A group of congressional liberals being that include Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) teamed up with President Obama to kill tax cut deal that would have given hundreds of billions of dollars to the wealthy and corporations.

Politico reported,

“Everyone felt that Reid had suddenly given the store to Republicans and not gotten much in return,” said a Democratic House aide.

The president, with liberal Democratic backing on the Hill, issued the veto threat and the plan imploded, making the tax deal the first major collateral damage of the White House’s immigration action.

We should go back to the drawing board,” said Michigan Rep. Sander Levin, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. Those concerns were echoed in public by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who sits on the tax-writing Finance Committee and Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

A few hours after White House aides spoke with Senate Finance, Obama himself called Wyden to tell him he’d made a decision: He’d veto the deal.

Sens. Reid and Schumer tried to do an end run around President Obama and congressional liberals and got caught. Sen. Bernie Sanders called the plan to give corporations more tax breaks crazy, “This tax cut agreement does exactly the wrong things. At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, it extends huge tax cuts to the rich and large corporations while threatening programs that help low-income children. At a time when we need to reverse climate change and aggressively move to sustainable energy, this agreement fails to eliminate tax benefits for the fossil fuel industry but phases out tax credits for wind and solar. This is pretty crazy stuff. I strongly support the president’s decision to veto it.”

With the red state Democrats out of the Senate, liberals are going to gain power and influence. The entire Senate Democratic caucus doesn’t need to be unified to uphold a presidential veto. It’s now clear that President Obama is working with the congressional liberals to fence in what the Republican congressional majority will be able to accomplish.

Obama won’t have much trouble gathering up votes to sustain a veto as long as Republicans try to pass through wildly unpopular legislation. A smaller Democratic caucus in both the House and Senate does give the president more flexibility when it comes to working with his fellow Democrats. The liberal Hell No caucus is already flexing their muscles. The blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline, and the killing of tax cuts for corporations were only the beginning.

The Republican fantasy of a congress that could challenge Obama has gone up in smoke. If the White House continues to work with congressional liberals, Boehner and McConnell will be pinched in and complaining about their inability to get anything done in a matter of weeks.

The shoe is sliding over to the other foot as Mitch McConnell is about to get a taste of his own medicine.




“Sens. Reid and Schumer tried to do an end run around President Obama and congressional liberals and got caught. Sen. Bernie Sanders called the plan to give corporations more tax breaks crazy, “This tax cut agreement does exactly the wrong things. At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, it extends huge tax cuts to the rich and large corporations while threatening programs that help low-income children. At a time when we need to reverse climate change and aggressively move to sustainable energy, this agreement fails to eliminate tax benefits for the fossil fuel industry but phases out tax credits for wind and solar. This is pretty crazy stuff. I strongly support the president’s decision to veto it.”... Obama won’t have much trouble gathering up votes to sustain a veto as long as Republicans try to pass through wildly unpopular legislation. A smaller Democratic caucus in both the House and Senate does give the president more flexibility when it comes to working with his fellow Democrats. The liberal Hell No caucus is already flexing their muscles. The blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline, and the killing of tax cuts for corporations were only the beginning.”

Just because the Republicans gained some extra seats doesn't mean they will get whatever they want without a fight. The political war sometimes reminds me of a poker game, but at this point it looks more like a couple of sumo wrestlers to me. The gains will be incremental rather than a massive win by either side, but we will continue to push as the Republicans do more and more outrageous things for their corporate friends. I believe the popularity of the GOP will be challenged as the new poor catch on and stop voting for them. What they advertise is a “Christian nation” rather than secular and strong patriotism, but what they deliver is poverty ever more entrenched. That can't forever be advantageous for them. The thing that is almost as important to conservatives than the fossil fuel industries welfare, however, is the social policy issues. I believe the black and Hispanic vote will boost us up as we face a new civil rights contest. I hope to see action on police and court reforms that need to occur sooner rather than later, and on Republican actions to block the blacks, Hispanics and poor people in general from turning out to vote. I am hopeful about progress on these issues.





http://www.forwardprogressives.com/bernie-sanders-nails-republican-lies-about-voter-id-laws-new-gao-report/

Bernie Sanders Nails Republican Lies About Voter ID Laws After Release Of GAO Report
By Allen Clifton
October 9, 2014

Something most liberals have known all along has basically been confirmed in a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report shows new voter ID laws that have been passed in a number of Republican-controlled states are making it more difficult for Americans to vote. Specifically those Americans who tend to vote for Democrats.

I know, you’re shocked.

Here’s part of the statement released by Senator Bernie Sanders’ office:

State laws that make voters show IDs at polling places have put a price on ballot access and eroded turnout – especially among African Americans, young people and recently-registered voters – a non-partisan congressional watchdog concluded.
The Government Accountability Office report also found scant evidence of voter fraud that the new laws that ostensibly are designed to discourage.

The report was requested by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). The senators asked the research arm of Congress to investigate what they called an “alarming number” of new state laws that make it “significantly harder” for millions of voters to cast ballots.

The report calculated the direct cost to would-be voters in the 17 states where voters must present a driver’s license or other state identification at polling places. The price for driver’s licenses ranges from $14.50 in Indiana to $58.50 in Rhode Island. The cost of getting a birth certificate needed to obtain a non-driver ID ranges from $7 in North Dakota to $25 in Georgia.

Focusing on two states with strict ID laws, Kansas and Tennessee, the GAO found greater falloffs in voter turnout in those states than in states without restrictive voting laws. The 2012 general election turnout compared to 2008 was as much as 3.2 percent less in Kansas and 2.2 percent less in Tennessee than in other states. The falloff was greatest among African-Americans, young people and newly-registered voters, the GAO said.

I highlighted the last two paragraphs because they’re particularly important. Republicans have seemingly found a way around illegal poll taxes by simply requiring people pay to have an ID before they’re allowed to vote. So, in reality, it’s just a roundabout way to levy a poll tax – without directly charging a poll tax.

Not only that, but these laws are lowering voter turnout. And like I’ve said before, anyone who’s trying to make it harder for Americans to vote clearly has some kind of unethical ulterior motives. Especially when this study concluded that the people most adversely effected by these laws were African Americans, young people and newly registered voters. Otherwise known as voters who tend to vote for Democrats more than Republicans. Again, I know you’re completely shocked.

Republican legislatures passing strict voter ID laws that just happen to lower the voter turnout among demographics who vote for Democrats - no way!  And, as most of you might expect, the Supreme Court keeps upholding these unconstitutional laws. But that’s what happens when the court is controlled by conservative justices. This has to stop, because history is just repeating itself. Decades ago poll taxes were used to try to discourage people from voting (specifically African Americans). Now these “poll taxes” are being disguised under the pretense of “combating voter fraud” by requiring Americans to present an ID before they can vote. An ID that the vast majority of Americans would have to pay for in order to obtain. So, if Americans can’t be forced to pay in order to exercise their right to vote, but an ID costs money, how is that not requiring Americans to pay a fee before they can vote? I can’t emphasize this enough, liberals must get out to vote this November. I don’t care what hoops they try to make you jump through - vote. We cannot continue to allow Republicans to violate our Constitutional rights and rig our election process. Because if we don’t get out to vote, we’re just handing this country right over to them. And we damn sure can’t let that happen. -

About Allen Clifton
Allen Clifton is from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has a degree in Political Science. He is a co-founder of Forward Progressives, and author of the popular Right Off A Cliff column. He is also the founder of the Right Off A Cliff facebook page, on which he routinely voices his opinions and stirs the pot for the Progressive movement. Follow Allen on Twitter as well, @Allen_Clifton.




“State laws that make voters show IDs at polling places have put a price on ballot access and eroded turnout – especially among African Americans, young people and recently-registered voters – a non-partisan congressional watchdog concluded. The Government Accountability Office report also found scant evidence of voter fraud that the new laws that ostensibly are designed to discourage.... The report was requested by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). The senators asked the research arm of Congress to investigate what they called an “alarming number” of new state laws that make it “significantly harder” for millions of voters to cast ballots.... The price for driver’s licenses ranges from $14.50 in Indiana to $58.50 in Rhode Island. The cost of getting a birth certificate needed to obtain a non-driver ID ranges from $7 in North Dakota to $25 in Georgia.... The falloff was greatest among African-Americans, young people and newly-registered voters, the GAO said. I highlighted the last two paragraphs because they’re particularly important. Republicans have seemingly found a way around illegal poll taxes by simply requiring people pay to have an ID before they’re allowed to vote. So, in reality, it’s just a roundabout way to levy a poll tax – without directly charging a poll tax.... And, as most of you might expect, the Supreme Court keeps upholding these unconstitutional laws. But that’s what happens when the court is controlled by conservative justices. This has to stop, because history is just repeating itself.... I don’t care what hoops they try to make you jump through - vote. We cannot continue to allow Republicans to violate our Constitutional rights and rig our election process. Because if we don’t get out to vote, we’re just handing this country right over to them.”

This article is outdated now, but it contains some important stuff – who requested the GAO report and what it said. As feared, the vote earlier this month was low, and we did lose the Senate leadership. We still have reliable Democrats in the Congress and Senate, and we need to use this GAO report as a basis for future contests to the hated ID laws. I think somebody like the NAACP or the ACLU needs to sue in the various states and try to force the Supreme Court to look at the issue again.





http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/car-runs-over-minneapolis-ferguson-protester

TPM LIVEWIRE
By Brendan James
Wed Nov 26 2014

A driver mowed down a protester Tuesday at a rally in Minneapolis, where people were demonstrating against a grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson, Mo. police Officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

In footage shot by the Minnesota Star Tribune as well as another video obtained by local TV station KSTP, a driver could be seen plowing through a crowd of protesters and driving directly over one female demonstrator's leg as she screamed in pain.

The videos showed the car screeching to a halt shortly after it rolled over the protester's leg. A crowd immediately surrounded the car as people rushed to help the victim.

Paramedics treated the woman on the scene before an ambulance took her to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with very minor injuries, the Star Tribune reported.

Police did not take the driver into custody or ticket him, according to KSTP. Police told the news station that the incident was under investigation.

The protest was staged near the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct headquarters.

COMMENTS –

Libor Jany @StribJany
Follow
Moments after the woman was struck, a dozen demonstrators pounced on the hood of the vehicle, while others tried to free the victim.

Libor Jany @StribJany
Follow
Other demonstrators are now standing, hand in hand, around the woman, who's being treated by paramedics in the middle of the intersection.


Libor Jany @StribJany
Follow
Witnesses say the car, a teal station wagon, started honking at protesters blocking the intersection, before running down down a woman.




This looks like assault by motor vehicle to me. Otherwise, why did he honk at the protesters first? Why didn't he stop when he saw there was a demonstration? And why didn't the police block the road to oncoming traffic? I do hope this driver will be charged with a crime. “Police told the news station that the incident was under investigation.” That sounds like what they usually say when they don't want to be clear with the press. Hopefully this woman will live.





SOLAR ISSUES AROUND THE WORLD


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/09/13/ozy-solar-power-south-asia/15529551/

Can solar power save South Asia?
Emily Cadei, OZY8 a.m. EDT September 13, 2014

In 2010, Shazia Khan had a bright idea, literally. That's when this Pakistani-American, born and raised in upstate New York, launched the nonprofit EcoEnergyFinance, based in Karachi, Pakistan.

Today, EcoEnergy is out in the villages of Pakistan's Sindh Province, going where no electricity line has gone before. It sells solar lanterns that charge themselves under the baking South Asian sun, and then provide eight to 16 hours of electricity. Solar could well help fill the subcontinent's gaping energy needs. It draws on as many as 300 days of sunshine a year, while circumventing the need for huge infrastructure projects to get electricity where it's needed.

"We're focused on the rural poor because … the Pakistani government knows there is an energy crisis in Pakistan, but whenever they take any sort of policy measures to address this problem, they really don't talk about the rural poor at all," says Khan, formerly an environmental lawyer at the World Bank. "They're focused on setting up these really big power plants."

More from OZY:
How Saudi Arabia will kick its oil habit
The craziest public transit solution ever?
The Caribbean goes geothermal

South Asia's needs are crushingly obvious.

The regular sunshine amounts to a huge underutilized resource, as solar technology improves and costs fall. Potentially it could cut India's and Pakistan's reliance on foreign coal, gas and oil.

Most transformative: The mechanics of solar power make it fairly simple to deliver "off-grid" and avoid the limitations of India's and Pakistan's abysmal energy infrastructure. Solar could bring electricity to the hundreds of millions of rural poor who lack access, in the same way that mobile phones allowed millions of people to leapfrog the expensive infrastructure of the landline.

Today, roughly one-third of Indians rely on kerosene, dung or wood for most energy needs. Next door in Pakistan, it's worse — roughly 40 percent of its 180 million people have no electricity. The financial and physical state of the electrical grids is worse than decrepit. Energy theft is routine in both countries, creating mounting piles of utility debt that make it hard to keep the lights on, let alone improve or expand power lines.

At the end of 2012, Pakistani's energy-industry debt topped $9 billion, according toThe Economist. "It's one unholy mess," says Michael Kugelman, an expert on South Asia energy issues at the Wilson Center think tank in D.C.

Powering up solar, though, raises its own set of issues, including creating incentives for investment in an industry with high upfront costs and low initial returns. "It is very much a long-term investment and not something that can address the immediate energy crisis in Pakistan or the insatiable energy thirst in India," Kugelman says. The greatest hope for capitalizing on solar energy's potential lies with innovative small-scale projects that can connect people to electricity for the very first time, like EcoEnergyFinance.

The company recently received a grant to pilot a pay-as-you-go program for the lanterns via cell phone SIM cards, rather than collecting monthly installment payments, village by village. Another grant will help set up solar-powered energy hubs in villages, where residents can come to power their cell phones and other electronic devices.

EcoEnergyFinance aims to become cash-flow positive, so it can reinvest income and scale up operations.

"Solar energy is a very fundamentally easy thing to put into place," says Kugelman. It just takes solar panels and a few other pieces of equipment. And there's appeal for entrepreneurs and startups to work in communities that have never had electricity. "You're not competing with other industries, the oil industry, the gas industry," he says.

In India, Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, the CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a Mumbai-based nonprofit research institute, says his organization has counted 250 companies producing off-grid energy. Most use solar, and most sell individual home systems. Still, more companies are now building "microgrids" — clusters of solar panels connecting anywhere from 20 to 100 households. Some are using the the same pay-as-you-go model that Khan's nonprofit is experimenting with in Pakistan, Ghosh says.

Though the industry is fledgling, political leaders have begun to put money and political capital behind solar. In May, Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, inaugurated the country's first solar power park, with aims of producing 1,000 megawatts of energy by 2016. It's one of the largest in the world. India has an even bigger solar facility in the works, though environmental concerns may slow the project.

According to Ghosh, solar energy in India has grown a hundred-fold, from almost nothing to 2.6 gigawatts in installed capacity in the last four years. That's still just a fraction of the total 300 gigawatts of installed electrical capacity. Ghosh thinks that with the right policies, however, solar and other renewables could grow to make up 15 percent of of India's electrical capacity in the next 15 to 20 years.

New Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also a solar enthusiast, after successfully launching several projects when he was chief minister of the state of Gujarat. Solar energy will be central to achieving his lofty energy promises, including one light bulb in every Indian household by 2019.

Big projects are still shackled by a lack of financing options and know-how necessary to attract big private investors and scale up solar energy use. But that's not stopping pioneers like Shazia Khan. And Ghosh says it's projects like hers that will embed solar power in the region's energy future. In the same way people in rural communities around the globe have come to rely on cell phones for everyday life, he predicts that solar energy, too, will become "indispensable."

Ozy.com is a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.




“EcoEnergy is selling a great new product to Pakistanis – solar lanterns that charge themselves and then provide eight to 16 hours of electricity.... Still the need for more is great. “Rolling blackouts in India plunged 700 million people into darkness for two days in late July 2012, a jolting reminder that amid talk of South Asia's economic miracles, energy remains a mammoth Achilles' heel. South Asia's energy resources just can't keep up with its booming population and economy.”

“Today, roughly one-third of Indians rely on kerosene, dung or wood for most energy needs. Next door in Pakistan, it's worse — roughly 40 percent of its 180 million people have no electricity.... The greatest hope for capitalizing on solar energy's potential lies with innovative small-scale projects that can connect people to electricity for the very first time, like EcoEnergyFinance.... EcoEnergyFinance aims to become cash-flow positive, so it can reinvest income and scale up operations. "Solar energy is a very fundamentally easy thing to put into place," says Kugelman. It just takes solar panels and a few other pieces of equipment. And there's appeal for entrepreneurs and startups to work in communities that have never had electricity. "You're not competing with other industries, the oil industry, the gas industry," he says.... Solar energy will be central to achieving his lofty energy promises, including one light bulb in every Indian household by 2019.”

The needs of poor and rural people in India and Pakistan are great – kerosene, dung or wood are the energy sources for the 1/3 of the Indian population and 40% of the Pakistanis – all of whom do not have electricity at this point. The use of small scale solar units is promising, giving perhaps enough panels to produce electricity for a small village financed on a pay as you go plan so that the people don't have to put up tens of thousands of dollars to get set up. The idea of a solar lamp is something that we could use in this country. The goal of “one light bulb in every Indian household by 2019 illustrates how difficult the situation is there at this time, however. Where there is such a dearth of energy in general and no coal or oil available, there should be a broad doorway for the development of solar in those countries. It would be very hard for a cottage industry of some sort to develop there without sources of light besides a flickering fire. The solar industry in the US has produced more and more power, some of which is given back to our local power plants, just by the use of solar panels on our houses. There were several problems being thrown up by nay-sayers – generally Republicans – ten years ago about why solar energy “won't work,” but it is working, and every year some new technology is developed around solar. I think it is an idea “whose time has come,” and I feel greatly encouraged about the future of the CO2 problem – the proverbial elephant in the room. Even if Republicans block progress in the US to protect their oil and coal interests, it is happening in other parts or the world. Compared to burning dung solar power is well worth developing even though it costs money to set a system up.





http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-25/revealed-the-oil-lobbys-playbook-against-californias-climate-law

Leaked: The Oil Lobby's Conspiracy to Kill Off California's Climate Law
By Brad Wieners
November 25, 2014

You remember Fillmore. He’s the resident hippie of Radiator Springs in the Pixar blockbuster Cars. Much to the chagrin of his neighbor, Sarge the Army Jeep, Fillmore greets each new day with Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock rendition of A Star Spangled Banner—“respect the classics, man”—and is quick with a conspiracy theory about why biofuels never stood a chance at America’s gas pumps. Perfectly voiced by the late, great George Carlin, Fillmore has a slight paranoiac edge, as if his intake of marijuana may exceed what’s medically indicated.

Well, as they say, it’s not paranoia if they really are out to delay, rewrite, or kill off a meaningful effort to reduce the build-up of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere. APowerpoint (MSFT) deck now being circulated by climate activists—a copy of which was sent to Bloomberg Businessweek—suggests that there is a conspiracy. Or, if you prefer, a highly coordinated, multistate coalition that does not want California to succeed at moving off fossil fuels because that might set a nasty precedent for everyone else.

Created by the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), one of the most powerful oil and gas lobbies in the U.S., the slides and talking points comes from a Nov. 11 presentation to the Washington Research Council. The Powerpoint deck details a plan to throttle AB 32 (also known as the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006) and steps to thwart low carbon fuel standards (known as LCFS) in California, Oregon, and Washington State. Northwest Public Radio appears to have been the first to confirm the authenticity of the deck, whichBloomberg Businessweek did as well, with WSPA spokesman Tupper Hull.

Specifically, the deck from a presentation by WSPA President Catherine Reheis-Boyd lays out the construction of what environmentalists contend is an elaborate “astroturf campaign.” Groups with names such as Oregon Climate Change Campaign, Washington Consumers for Sound Fuel Policy, and AB 32 Implementation Group are made to look and sound like grassroots citizen-activists while promoting oil industry priorities and actually working against the implementation of AB 32.

The deck also reveals how WSPA seized on a line from a California Air Resources Board memo that the cap-and-trade program for gas and diesel that goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, may affect gas prices in order to launch an ad campaign warning of a “hidden” gas tax that devious Sacramento pols are sneaking through.

“The environmental community is used to sky-is-falling analysis from fossil fuel interests in response to clean energy initiatives, so that part isn’t surprising,” says Tim O’Connor, a senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, to whom I sent the deck for comment. “But it’s eye-opening to see the lengths [the WSPA] has gone to push back rather than move forward. I don’t think anybody knew how cross-jurisdictional, cross-border, and extensive their investment is in creating a false consumer backlash against [climate legislation].”

STORY: Ethanol, Fighting for Its Life, Gets a Temporary Reprieve

In California, O’Connor points out, “we have 70 percent voter approval on clean energy alternatives, so it’s offensive and atrocious they’re using these supposed everyday citizens—who are really paid advertisers—to change the public discourse.”

Reheis-Boyd’s Powerpoint deck, entitled “WSPA Priority Issues,” starts by announcing that these are the “the best of times.” Crude oil production in the U.S. is higher than it has been since 1997, with imports subsequently reduced to a 20-year low, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The next six slides describe why these are also “the worst of times” and include images of demonstrators protesting the Keystone XL oil pipeline, demanding government action on climate change, and pictures of professor-cum-activist Bill McKibbenand billionaire Tom Steyer, with the latter quoted as saying he wants to “destroy these people”—i.e., people like the members of WSPA.

Then there’s a slide with all the different groups that WSPA has funded to make it seem as if there’s a broad group in three states opposing a series of initiatives to reduce carbon pollution from fossil fuels. The most clever of these is the “Stop the Hidden Gas Tax!” campaign. Who, after all, wants that?

“Let me be clear,” says Hull, the WSPA spokesman. “We did not oppose AB 32 when it passed. We believe it’s good to have the reduction of greenhouse gases as a goal. We support that goal.” In the years since, he says, “hundreds of pages of regulations have been added to what had been a page-and-a-half document, and we do object to many of the additions.” What’s more, Hull says, “we have a legitimate concern over what will happen when the cap-and-trade program goes into effect for gas and diesel.”



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-22/sunedison-wins-order-to-supply-california-projects.html

SunEdison Wins Order to Supply California Projects
By Justin Doom  Oct 22, 2014 

SunEdison Inc. (SUNE), the best-performing solar company this year, won an order to install 17.7 megawatts of panels for public agencies at more than 30 sites in California.
Construction on the mix of rooftop, canopy and ground-mounted systems will begin by year-end and be complete by the end of 2015, St. Peters, Missouri-based SunEdison said today in a statement. Financial terms weren’t disclosed for the order, which involves working with nine agencies in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties.
SunEdison and its TerraForm Power Inc. (TERP) unit will own and operate the solar arrays. David Einhorn, president of hedge fund Greenlight Capital Inc., this week recommended buying shares in both companies, saying SunEdison is worth $32 a share.
SunEdison climbed 0.4 percent to $19.12 at 10:27 a.m. in New York. The stock has gained 47 percent this year, leading the 21-member Bloomberg Intelligence Global Large Solar index.
To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Doom in New York at jdoom1@bloomberg.net




“Well, as they say, it’s not paranoia if they really are out to delay, rewrite, or kill off a meaningful effort to reduce the build-up of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere. A Powerpoint (MSFT) deck now being circulated by climate activists—a copy of which was sent to Bloomberg Businessweek—suggests that there is a conspiracy. Or, if you prefer, a highly coordinated, multistate coalition that does not want California to succeed at moving off fossil fuels because that might set a nasty precedent for everyone else.... The Powerpoint deck details a plan to throttle AB 32 (also known as the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006) and steps to thwart low carbon fuel standards (known as LCFS) in California, Oregon, and Washington State. Northwest Public Radio appears to have been the first to confirm the authenticity of the deck, which Bloomberg Businessweek did as well, with WSPA spokesman Tupper Hull.... an elaborate “astroturf campaign.” Groups with names such as Oregon Climate Change Campaign, Washington Consumers for Sound Fuel Policy, and AB 32 Implementation Group are made to look and sound like grassroots citizen-activists while promoting oil industry priorities and actually working against the implementation of AB 32.... The deck also reveals how WSPA seized on a line from a California Air Resources Board memo that the cap-and-trade program for gas and diesel that goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, may affect gas prices in order to launch an ad campaign warning of a “hidden” gas tax that devious Sacramento pols are sneaking through.... Tim O’Connor, a senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, to whom I sent the deck for comment. “But it’s eye-opening to see the lengths [the WSPA] has gone to push back rather than move forward. I don’t think anybody knew how cross-jurisdictional, cross-border, and extensive their investment is in creating a false consumer backlash against [climate legislation].”... O’Connor points out, “we have 70 percent voter approval on clean energy alternatives, so it’s offensive and atrocious they’re using these supposed everyday citizens—who are really paid advertisers—to change the public discourse.”

Here we are with the Republicans fighting dirty again. They just don't believe in a fair competition. Competition all the way, yes, but not FAIR competition. They ought to keep their dirty hands off of California politics. 70% of California's populace approves of clean energy proposals, so they should be left alone to proceed with it as best they can. Of course that's the problem – the forward-looking California politicians will probably succeed if left alone.





EPA Proposes New Rules To Curb Ozone Levels – NPR
Krishnadev Calamur
November 26, 2014

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled new rules today to reduce emission levels for smog-causing ozone, which is linked to asthma and other health problems.
The proposed rules would lower the threshold for ozone from 75 parts per billion to between 65 ppb to 70 ppb. The agency said it would take comments on an ozone level as low as 60 ppb.

"Bringing ozone pollution standards in line with the latest science will clean up our air, improve access to crucial air quality information, and protect those most at-risk," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in a statement. "It empowers the American people with updated air quality information to protect our loved ones - because whether we work or play outdoors – we deserve to know the air we breathe is safe."

The Clean Air Act requires the agency to review standards every five year. The ozone levels were set at 75 ppb in 2008 by President Bush.

The new rules are likely to draw opposition from industry groups as well as Republicans. Critics say the standards will hurt jobs and adversely affect an economy that is only just recovering from the Great Recession.

Jay Timmons, the president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, said today that the new rules jeopardize the manufacturing sector.

"This new standard comes at the same time dozens of other new EPA regulations are being imposed that collectively place increased costs, burdens and delays on manufacturers, threaten our international competitiveness and make it nearly impossible to grow jobs," Timmons said in a statement. "Before the Obama administration moves the goalposts with yet another set of requirements that will make it more difficult for manufacturers across the country, they need to allow existing ozone standards to be implemented and give time to American businesses to meet those already stringent and onerous requirements."

Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, told the Los Angeles Times that the current ozone standard was healthy and the new levels would hurt the economy.

"The law as it stands now says [the EPA] can't look at jobs," Olson told the newspaper. "But if you don't have jobs, you don't have healthcare, and that is a public health issue."
The EPA's McCarthy rejected those claims in an op-ed article on CNN.com. She said states will have until 2020 to 2037 to meet the new standards, depending on how severe the area's ozone problem is.

"Critics play a dangerous game when they denounce the science and law EPA has used to defend clean air for more than 40 years," she said. "The American people know better."




“The Clean Air Act requires the agency to review standards every five year. The ozone levels were set at 75 ppb in 2008 by President Bush. The new rules are likely to draw opposition from industry groups as well as Republicans. Critics say the standards will hurt jobs and adversely affect an economy that is only just recovering from the Great Recession.... "Before the Obama administration moves the goalposts with yet another set of requirements that will make it more difficult for manufacturers across the country, they need to allow existing ozone standards to be implemented and give time to American businesses to meet those already stringent and onerous requirements."... The EPA's McCarthy rejected those claims in an op-ed article on CNN.com. She said states will have until 2020 to 2037 to meet the new standards, depending on how severe the area's ozone problem is. "Critics play a dangerous game when they denounce the science and law EPA has used to defend clean air for more than 40 years," she said. "The American people know better."

I have always heard that a camel will groan loudly every time a new load is put on his back. That's what these Republicans sound like to me. Businesses are mostly very wealthy indeed, and they can darn well afford to upgrade their technology to achieve less ozone in the air – and CO2, too. Jacksonville, FL had a really terrible smog problem in the 1950s. I have on my many tapes a great documentary from the local public television station about it. See this website for details – http://www.jaxhistory.org/portfolio-items/black-smoke/. According to this article the air was so bad that it was killing plants in 1961, and in 1949 it became so severe that women's nylon hose developed holes and shredded as they were walking downtown. “An airborne agent was responsible, but officials & scientists have never determined exactly what the culprit was. Some citizens blamed sickly-sweet industrial odors, while health officials established acid-bearing soot as the cause. Specifically, the instigator could have been the Inductanee, a floating electric plant that was docked at the foot of Laura Street, the location of The Landing today.” An acquaintance of mine when I lived in Washington DC said that Jacksonville is “the armpit of the South.” Well, things have definitely improved at this time, though I still smell a Maxwell House coffee factory as it roasts coffee and a paper mill which gives off hydrogen sulfide. That smells somewhere between rotten eggs and an outdoor toilet. Of course most of you have never experienced an outdoor toilet. You haven't missed anything!!





http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/us/officer-defused-eruptions-as-crowds-grew-volatile.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

In Ferguson, Officer Defused Eruptions as Crowds Grew Tense
By MANNY FERNANDEZ and BRENT McDONALD
NOV. 27, 2014

FERGUSON, Mo. — Late Wednesday, two nights after rioting left blocks of this suburban city in smoldering ruin, a small but angry crowd assembled at the police station on South Florissant Road.

On previous nights, protesters hurled D batteries, bottles of urine and rocks at the police officers and National Guard troops who stood stern-faced behind steel barricades and concrete barriers.

But around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, an unlikely scene unfolded off to the side.

A teenage protester whose face had been hidden behind a ski mask lowered his headgear, approached a police commander and gave him a hug.

“Good to see you, man,” the commander, Lt. Jerry Lohr of the St. Louis County Police, said to the teenager, Joshua Williams. “How’ve you been? How’s your mom doing? I saw her out here earlier.”

Lieutenant Lohr, 41, had a scratch on his left eyelid from a scuffle that broke out during an arrest the previous night and a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth. He wore no riot gear — just a standard-issue brown uniform — and held not a baton in his hand but his knit cap.

“We going to have a good night?” he asked Mr. Williams.

“Yeah,” Mr. Williams, 19, said.

Wednesday was indeed a calm night for Ferguson, compared with the looting and arson Monday that came after the announcement that a grand jury had declined to indict the white police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in August.

Before, during and after that first night of violence, few law enforcement officials have done more on the ground to ease the volatility of protesters than Lieutenant Lohr, who is white. And few of his white colleagues have been able to connect with the largely black crowds better than he has.

After embracing the lieutenant, Mr. Williams was back at the barricades, his mask again covering his face. “We were having a conversation one day out here, and he seemed like a pretty decent guy, so I grew to like him,” said Mr. Williams, who is black and lives in Ferguson. “He’s the only one I feel comfortable being around. The rest of them — no, I don’t.”

Lieutenant Lohr, a Nashville-born former Texan and father of three with an Army-style buzz cut, is one of the commanders overseeing security at the Ferguson police station. He never wears riot gear, even when he wades into a group of protesters to answer questions, resolve disputes or listen to a stream of insults. Protesters at the gates ask for him by name, so they can make complaints, for example, about the use of tear gas or of officers being too aggressive in arresting a woman.

One night, he approached a woman who led protesters onto the street to block traffic. She looked at her watch.

“It’s 11:12,” she told him. “Give me to 11:15 with these folks out here.”

Lieutenant Lohr agreed, set a timer on his wristwatch and helped direct traffic around them.

Black residents here have long said that their outrage after Mr. Brown’s killing stemmed from the nearly all-white Ferguson police force’s poor community relations and what they said was its abusive and racially targeted practices. Lieutenant Lohr, to many of the protesters, is evidence that law enforcement officials have improved community relations at a divisive time.

“Allowing people to talk on a one-on-one level does a lot as far as building bridges,” Lieutenant Lohr said. “They may not agree with what I’m doing, but now they at least know my name and my face. I’m human again. They realize that I’m a person. I’m not just a uniform.”

“We have to bridge this gap,” he continued. “It’s not going to happen overnight. This is going to be a long-term relationship, a long-term commitment, that both sides are going to have to make.”

On Monday, Lieutenant Lohr helped stop, or at least delay, outbreaks of rioting.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m., as hundreds of demonstrators learned the officer who fatally shot Mr. Brown was not being charged — and Mr. Brown’s stepfather stomped on the hood of a car, urging the protesters to action — those near the front of the barricades surged forward and objects flew over officers’ heads.

But after a man knocked the fence over, Lieutenant Lohr rushed in, standing between the riot-ready officers and demonstrators.

“When I got out there, I said, ‘Please don’t push the barricade down — this isn’t going to help anything,’ ” the lieutenant recalled. “We both picked it up and put it back up.”

The situation eased. Then it reignited down South Florissant, as protesters vandalized a parked police cruiser and hurled rocks.

The next night, Tuesday, before the scuffle that led to the scratch on his eyelid, Lieutenant Lohr crossed South Florissant — the only officer to do so — to speak with demonstrators. There was a brief discussion about the use of the street. The lieutenant told them they could have two of the four lanes.

He was polite to the protesters. His strongest words were reserved for the reporters who stuck microphones at his face and crowded behind him. A protester, Alene Williams, told him she was offended by the presence of the military.

“You have to protect these buildings,” she said. “You have to protect the citizens. But you also have to protect the people.”

“I know,” he said, “and I’m trying to do that.”

The lieutenant’s cellphone rang. “Let me take this call,” he told her. “Thank you.”

As he walked away, Ms. Williams said of Lieutenant Lohr, “He all right. I give him a little credit, but he ain’t going to get too much, because he’s still the police.”





“But around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, an unlikely scene unfolded off to the side. A teenage protester whose face had been hidden behind a ski mask lowered his headgear, approached a police commander and gave him a hug. “Good to see you, man,” the commander, Lt. Jerry Lohr of the St. Louis County Police, said to the teenager, Joshua Williams. “How’ve you been? How’s your mom doing? I saw her out here earlier.” Lieutenant Lohr, 41, had a scratch on his left eyelid from a scuffle that broke out during an arrest the previous night and a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth. He wore no riot gear — just a stand “We going to have a good night?” he asked Mr. Williams. “Yeah,” Mr. Williams, 19, said.... Lt. Lohr: “We have to bridge this gap,” he continued. “It’s not going to happen overnight. This is going to be a long-term relationship, a long-term commitment, that both sides are going to have to make.”... As he walked away, Ms. Williams said of Lieutenant Lohr, “He all right. I give him a little credit, but he ain’t going to get too much, because he’s still the police.”


We clearly need a lot more of this and a lot less negativity of all kinds. People can talk about their Christianity all they want, but I can tell who is really inspired by the words of Jesus. There is an old standing argument among Christian groups over “faith” versus “good works,” and I'll take good works any day of the week. I don't know about an afterlife, but I do know good from evil. We need a massive amount of good across our whole country, not just in Ferguson. Lt. Lohr is a hero. He doesn't use riot gear and interacts peacefully and respectfully with the protesters, working to resolve issues. He's a good cop. A good man. Maybe he should be promoted to the head of the department and weed out some of the violent officers, initiate retraining and non-aggressive interaction with community members, and then run for office -- Mayor maybe.